Operation Mincemeat Musical WEST END - News/Discussion Thread

I could not find a thread for this show specially but I need to share my thoughts on this one! Holy moly what a show!


★★★★★(★)

In Operation Mincemeat, we take a look at a mission that helped the Allies during World War II. However, this task had many bumps in the road and was almost a complete failure. Nonetheless, the team worked hard and their mission was a success! This show is played by a VERY TALENTED (cannot say that enough) company of actors! 5 to be exact! 3 of whom wrote the show as well! I think it’s cool to see the writers of a show perform their own material as well! I went into this show knowing almost nothing and left being taught a lesson in history! Also, this was probably one of the funniest shows I have seen since seeing Company last year in New York! Throughout the show, it made me think of my Grandfather, who’s fascinated with World War II in Europe. I know for sure that he would love this production and would be talking about it for a long time! I for one will be talking about this show for a long time. As I mentioned earlier, this show teaches us a lesson of history. Kind of like Hamilton, or 1776 for example. This is one of those shows that I feel will be the next big musical sensation! I can feel it with this one. One can only hope that this little show will have a life outside the West End! Maybe Broadway next year? To anyone who’s in London between now and it’s scheduled closing in November, go see it! You won’t be disappointed!

Updated On: 4/16/24 at 07:59 PM

When I talked with the cast, they said they want it to go to New York or at least have a continued life outside the West End. One of them said they had a large group of Americans the previous day and they all enjoyed it and also would like to see it in New York! This show was spectacular and I learned more about what went down during World War II. It’s definitely a major history lesson but told through musical comedy! Absolutely brilliant!

I finally saw this and agree it’s fantastic. I could easily imagine this on a NYC stage. I’m guessing it will win the Olivier for best musical this evening.

Saw it in London with my brother and his wife- we all LOVED it. Highly recommend this show. Witty, funny, intelligent , fast moving and highly entertaining.

Jmuep2 said: "Glad folks liked this, but I will say I had the opposite reaction.
I found the score tedious and did not laugh once. The lead actress was horribly unfunny and I couldn’t understand 80% of what came out of her mouth whenever she was pretending to be a male character.I was so bored and miserable I got up and left at the interval. One of the worst things I’ve ever seen."

Because the show is so physically/vocally demanding are two separate casts that perform the show. There's the A Company, which is the original cast and then there's also a B Company. And on certain nights, it's a mixture of the two depending. The B Company essentially serve as swing/understudies as well. Some of the performers are better than others. I was fortunate enough to get to see the original company.
There is a lot of talk of this coming to New York at some point, I wonder if they will utilize two casts or if they will just have the original cast and supplement swings as needed?

Updated On: 4/14/24 at 09:26 AM

two ladies tickets said: "Because the show is so physically/vocallydemanding are two separate casts that perform the show. There's the A Company, which is the original cast and then there's also a B Company. And on certain nights, it's a mixture of the two depending. The B Company essentially serve as swing/understudies as well. Some of the performers are better than others. I was fortunate enough to get to see the original company.
There is a lot of talk of this coming to New York at some point, I wonder if they will utilize two casts or if they will just have the original cast and supplement swings as needed?"

They only have 4 actors (2 male and 2 female) understudying all roles, so they couldn’t possibly have a “B” Company since they would require a 5th person. It’s an undoubtedly demanding show and now that they are further in the run, I’ve seen they swing in the covers frequently.

What I find interesting is that they use this to their advantage, in the form of a bingo game for all possible combinations of cast members, as an incentive to get people to keep coming back - including small prizes and special discounts for those who wish to participate. It also shows that the production truly values their understudies where they are actively engaging the public to come see them and I wish shows did that more often. (Honestly, had “A Strange Loop” been a bigger hit and run longer, something like this could’ve worked.)

I saw the show with the full original cast last year and it was about 4 hours after I just got in from a red eye flight. I didn’t know what to expect but a friend of mine at the Drama League was raving about it and I figured why not? It was EASILY one of the top shows of my trip. I was laughing, crying, and THRILLED that new and original theatre was alive and well in London. I already bought my ticket to see it again when I go in July.

If it comes to New York, I will be going as often as I can.

The cast album is making a poor first impression. All character voices and exposition. It seems like a show that would work better live.

in my opinion the show is British but not ‘too British’. It follows the craft and form of well made American musicals - it’s just that some of the references, humour and story of course is very British. But in an accessible way that would appeal not turn people away. Very different than standing at sky’s edge - which rejects some of the form and tradition and American musicals, is a different musical style, is very very local in terms of story. THAT show is ‘too British’.

I think the comedy is quite broad actually. Don’t see why this wouldn’t succeed in a large off broadway/small Broadway house.